Here's the audio podcast of Sunday's sermon, the next lesson from Luke's gospel. Jesus pushes back against darkness and brokenness as His kingdom break in, then and now. 

In Luke 4:14-30, Jesus is without honor in His hometown because everyone is too familiar with Him, His family, etc. We run the risk of being too ...

Focusing on Luke 3:21-4:13, Jesus begins His ministry by submitted to baptism by His predecessor, John. Jesus' identity is majestically confi...

The ministry of John the Baptist fulfills prophecies made about him by Isaiah and Gabriel, and as he calls the people to repent and be baptized, we are called to do the same, and if we've already done so, it's time to renew our commitments to t...

We begin a series on the Gospel of Luke today, whose first sentence states he will summarize "the things that have been fulfilled among us," in a far reaching work that begins with Gabriel's visit to Zechariah in the temple predicting the birth...

The mercies of God are new every morning, and each day offers us a fresh start in Him. God is in the business of making all things new, including us, and He reminds us today of

We focus today on the convergence of multiple themes around the visit of the wise men to the Christchild. In looking at that story today (in Matthew 2:1-1...

One of the dangers of telling the Christmas story (or Easter, or how your grandparents walked from home to school uphill both ways...) as often as we do is that the stunning, mind-blowing aspects of God becoming human - and all that that means ...

The good news of Jesus begins with four humans and one angel: Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, and Gabriel. The angel startles the humans with news of God’s upcoming action in and through their lives. Their different reactions are patt...

On this third Sunday of Advent we hear from someone intimately acquainted with the early goings-on associated with the Incarnation. 

On this second Sunday of Advent, we focus on the theme of peace. Our sense of peace (and hope, joy, and love, etc.) is far more a function of perspective rather than circumstance. The prophet Isaiah and the apostle Paul both set touchstones for...

Keeping Sabbath is a test of faith that removes a day’s wages (or a day’s progress in our projects for workaholics) so that we recognize that his care for us far surpasses our efforts. At the core of observing Sabbath rest is an intentional use...

The culture around us defines us according to our occupation and income. We are human “doings” in the eyes of the world. We are created in the image of God, the true source of our value, worth & identity. We are human “beings” in His eyes. ...

God very strongly identifies the orphan/fatherless, widow and immigrant as being objects of His special attention. His identity is bound up with how much He cares for them. YHVH commands a structure in Israel’s everyday society that provides fo...

Several times in scripture humans are likened to sheep. This is not a compliment. Isaiah famously intones that "all we like sheep have gone astray." We are weak, learn slowly, and require the leadership of a shepherd. Sheep that do have ...

Last week we concentrated on seeing people the way Jesus does. The next thing Jesus does after seeing a person is: He loves them. He has compassion for them. He cares about them and for them. One of the challenging things He sees in them is tha...

Jesus sets a clear pattern in His ministry of deeply seeing people. Many of those people are on the margins and are not seen by others. Human tendency is to self-protect with distance and an “eye bounce” that avoids seeing them. In contrast, wh...

Looking at Jesus' Kingdom through the lens of Romans 5, we are encouraged to remain faithful and confident in our salvation because of the lengths to w...

Being a Christian doesn’t remove us from the hardship in our lives. Far from it. However, because of the Kingdom of God (and its King), we take strength and comfort from three things: His past faithfulness: His current indwelling (and PERMANENT...

The Book of Psalms is sometimes called “The Little Bible.” It mirrors the five books of law, and Blake Adams tells us “We should read it not as an assortment of poems and songs but as a single rhapsody on God’s covenant promises.” This year’s M...

According to the standards of the world, Jesus assumes a very low profile in His ministry that launches the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God not by edict, governmental action, or human might, but by compassion that drives Him to recover the hel...

Recent sermon themes converge today as we see the arc of God’s interactions with humans adapting over time as He matures the human race to have the capacity to receive His greatest self-revelation: Jesus. We note again how Moses’ and the hebrew...

It’s a mighty special day at Oakhaven Church: our annual homecoming corn roast! Today’s message will be in a creative vein as we hear one of Jesus’ followers describe some of the highlights of their years of ministry together.

Scripture says that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. However, humans are not. We are on a huge learning curve when it comes to understanding God and His ways, and we examine how He customizes his revelation and relationship with ...

God sets a pattern of revealing Himself in ways that are simple enough for His children to understand. These revelations are far from where He will eventually “arrive.” The sense of where God is begins with Him being distant and separate and VE...